Certain medical procedures require the percutaneous puncturing of the body tissue of a patient to gain access to a cavity in the body to perform a medical procedure. One example of such a procedure is the puncturing of body tissue and a blood vessel wall to gain access to the interior of the vascular system of the patient. Such procedures that commonly require the percutaneous puncturing of a blood vessel wall are balloon angioplasty procedures, arteriography, venography, angiography and other diagnostic procedures that use blood vessel catheterization. Examples of other procedures requiring a puncture through body tissue into a cavity include laparoscopic surgery and other microscopic surgery techniques using a small incision.
In each of these procedures, it is necessary to close the incision or puncture through the body tissue after the surgical procedure. While there are a variety of prior art devices and techniques for closing such punctures, one primary problem is ensuring a complete seal of the puncture.